Oxbridge Interviews – Engineering Science 11

Application

College (if made an open application, allocated college): St Catherine’s

Course: Engineering Science

Year in (not for!) which you applied: 2006

Final outcome: offer made

Applicant

Qualification: A-levels

When did you apply in terms of your qualification? pre-qualification

Are you a home/EU/overseas applicant? N/A

What is your country of origin? N/A

What type of school/college do/did you attend? Grammar School

GCSE or a similar equivalent taken: yes (9 A*,2 A)

A-levels

AS: Accounting (A at AS)

AS: Design and Technology (A at AS)

AS: Mathematics (A at AS)

AS: Physics (A at AS)

Details about the offer

Type of offer: conditional

Specific conditions: A in Design and Technology, A in Mathematics, A in Physics

Have you accepted the offer? yes

Have you applied to other universities you consider very close, ‘on par’ or even better than oxbridge? (Ivies, Sorbonne, LSE..others for different subjects) N/A

Have you met the offer? offer met

Decisions about the application

For what reasons did you apply to Oxbridge?

because i think that they are the best universities in the country by a distance

How did you decide between Oxford and Cambridge?

At the time i had no real reason to choose oxford over cambridge other than that my school had sent people to oxford to study engineering before at a certain college so i went for that.

Why did you choose this course?

both oxford and cambridge courses start out very general in the first two years which appealed to me as i wasn’t sure which field of engineering i was most interested in and so thought was best to go somewhere where i could look at different aspects. Modern engineering problems tend to be very diverse and require an understanding of all types eg civil, electronic, mechanical etc, so thought a breadth of knowledge would be useful later.

Why did you choose this college/make an open application?

knew people from my school had been there – i don’t mean this in an etonian type “oh we always get in there” way, more in the sense that someone else has done it before so its do-able. plus stcatz has the biggest bar of all the colleges and prob one of the best social scenes, very sporty too which i’m into

Preparation

Did your school/college give you any extra tuition or help prior to your interview or application? yes

about two weeks before i had a mock interview with a physics teacher which woke me up- went terrible- but at least got me used to the feeling of working under pressure with someone watching you- engineering interviews are basically doing lots of maths whilst tutor looks/helps you. That was it though, the rest of getting in was up to us

Do you have any advice for future applicants in terms of preparation?

Have all your A level game down – thats all there is to it. The interviewers are not trying to “catch you out” they want to find out how good you are, which they can only do by asking questions based on what you know. So all the maths problems will start with something based on A level material and then build on it. Dont worry about slick answers to stuff like “why do you want to study engineering”- the tutors are academics, ie they don’t care about banter/chat just how well wire up your neurons are – stick to the maths and physic theory son.

Interview

Did you have to sit any pre-interview exams (LNAT/BMAT/..)? no

Did you have to submit any written work prior to the interview? no

Did you have to take any exams as part of your interview(s)? no

Please comment further on any particular aspects/topics of your interview(s).

all applying maths and physics to problems, writing expressions for things a bit of circuit analysis- there was no chit chat, just hello- sit down, now solve this.

What did you wear to your interview(s), and why?

suit, though it doesn’t matter a toss what you wear, the interviewers are academics who will end up teaching you if you get in, they are not interested in what you wear.

Impressions

What was your general impression of the college that you applied to/any others you visited?

they are all pretty cool in their own way, everyone seems to fall in love with their college regardless, st catz is the best though….obviously,

If seen, please describe the college accommodation eg. size of rooms, facilities.

all modern buildings, 1st year accomodation is a bit basic, 2nd year is pretty swish with ensuite showers/toilets and your own fridge

How was the food provided by the college?

there is hall, which is a 3 course meal for about 3 quid, which is bloody excellent (where i live in ripoff south london, Â£3 wouldn’t buy half a damn sandwhich, so i was well impressed), then there is scaf which is canteen style food where you choose, generally less healthy but decent

Generally, what were the college students like (from what you saw of them)?

college has a good vibe, generally always up for a bit of a party or “shirt lash”

Final stage

Please describe what happened when you received the letter/the call telling you whether you had a place or not.

lol, i opened the letter…the end, didn’t get all emotional about it

Looking back

If you were to re-live that year of your life again, would you still apply?

definately, even if i hadn’t got in the interview was an experience, and if you don’t apply you will end up at bristol or durham or somewhere else decent but always have that nagging “what if” question “maybe i would have been good enough”, you can always turn the offer down (though in my experience few people have the stones to turn it down and all the perks that come with having an oxford degree- such as black rock investments wanting to such your coc1( when you leave. Seriously they will.

What advice do you have for potential applicants based on your experiences?

there is no magic secret you just gotta be good, sorry but thats the way it is, your going to be in a room with 2-3 academics and put through your paces for 45 minutes on some pretty tricky problems, the tutors can spot someone who is all chat a mile off, there is little place to hide. but ask yourself…what have you got to lose, compared to what you stand to gain.

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